Salmonella infection, or salmonellosis, is a bacterial disease of the intestinal tract. Salmonella is a group of bacteria that cause typhoid fever, food poisoning, gastroenteritis, enteric fever and other illnesses. People become infected mostly through contaminated water or foods, especially meat, poultry and eggs. Salmonella is a gram-negative, rod-shaped bacilli that can cause diarrheal illness in humans. Put simply, Salmonella is a bacterium shaped like a rod with a cell wall composed of peptidoglycan. There are many different kinds of these bacteria. Salmonella serotype Typhimurium and Salmonella serotype Enteritidis are the most common types in the United States. You can get salmonellosis by eating food contaminated with salmonella. Food may become contaminated by the unwashed hands of an infected food handler. A frequent cause is a food handler who does not wash his or her hands with soap after using the bathroom. Salmonella may also be found in the feces of some pets, especially those with diarrhea. You can become infected if you do not wash your hands after contact with these feces. Salmonella bacteria are also found in raw foods such as eggs, milk, chicken, turkey, and meat. If these foods are not processed or cooked well, the bacteria stay alive in the food and can infect someone who eats it. Salmonella infections typically affect the intestines, causing vomiting, fever, and other symptoms that usually resolve without medical treatment. Not everyone who ingests salmonella bacteria will become ill. Children, especially infants, are the most likely candidates to get sick from it. About 50,000 cases of salmonella infection are reported in the United States each year and about a third of those are in kids 4 years old or younger. In 1985 the U.S. had a salmonella outbreak from whole milk processed in the Hillfarm Dairy in Melrose Park, Illinois. It caused 16,284 confirmed and possibly as many as 200,000 cases of food poisoning in six Midwest states. The tainted milk was responsible for two deaths and may have been related to the death of 4 or 5 others with some counts being as high as 12. It is considered the largest outbreak of Salmonella food poisoning recorded in U.S. history since the CDC began keeping records in 1970. You can help prevent salmonella infections by not serving any raw meat or eggs, and by not keeping reptiles as pets, particularly if you have very young children. Hand washing is a powerful way to guard against salmonella infections, so it's essential to teach kids to wash their hands, particularly after trips to the bathroom and before handling food in any way.
